The present invention relates to protective casings for attachment to a vertical surface. More particularly, the present invention relates to a door post-attachable housing for a small roll of religious text written on parchment, known as a mezuza, which according to Jewish law is to be attached to a vertical component of a door frame.
A mezuza is a small roll of parchment on which are handwritten in Hebrew two paragraphs from the book of Deuteronomy. The requirement to attach said parchment to door posts is accepted not only by orthodox Jews, but also by a many others who believe that the mezuza provides divine protection. The text of the mezuza needs to conform to a number of regulations, among them that the ink has not peeled off from the parchment even for a single letter.
Although the metal, wooden or plastic elongated two-part housing protects the parchment to some extent, nevertheless it is customary to open the housing at least once every three years to check that the mezuza remains in good condition since with time the parchment and ink undergo a further drying process which can result in one or more letters on the rolled up parchment peeling off therefrom.
The mezuza housings commonly in use are usually provided with a small hole near each extremity which is used to nail the mezuza to a wooden door post. After attachment to the wall it is generally not possible to open the casing without detaching the whole assembly from the door post, as typically the nails, or the screws used for metal doorways, also hold the outer part of the housing. Consequently examination of the mezuza requires removing the casing from the door frame, and replacing same after the mezuza has been checked or repaired. Removal and replacement of the casing requires tools and these actions are very likely to damage and/or to scratch the casing, door frame surface or both.
Mezuza housings can be categorized as being intended for out doors or for internal use. Mezuza housings for external use typically require protection against the elements and usually also against unauthorized removal. Housings for internal home use are aesthetically pleasing; an excellent example thereof being seen in U.S. Design No. DES. 419,746 to Charny. However indoors there is usually no need to secure the housing or any part thereof to prevent unwanted removal, particularly as the housing is affixed at a height out of reach of small children. Depending on where the mezuza is located, there may or may not be a need for environmental protection.
One type of mezuza housing utilizes a test-tube type of glass container to display the parchment scroll, however, these are problematic since the glass is too easily broken, accidentally or deliberately, and the mezuza is too easily removed even without glass breakage.
It is therefore one of the objects of the present invention to obviate the disadvantages of prior art mezuza casings and to provide a housing which can be opened for purposes of checking and replacing the parchment scroll while allowing the base component of the housing to remain permanently attached to the door post.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an embodiment suitable for attachment to an external door post.
With this state of the art in mind there is now provided according to the present invention a door post-attachable housing for a mezuza scroll, of the type having a base component for attachment to a door post and a cover component, said base and cover delimiting a compartment for housing a mezuza scroll, characterized in that said base component is provided with means for separate attachment thereof to a door post and with support means extending into said compartment to retain and support said mezuza scroll in rolled-up configuration, and said cover component is provided with means for removable inter-engagement with said base component, said cover component being provided with an outer surface and wall surfaces extending therefrom towards said base component to delimit said housing compartment and to cover said scroll and at least a major portion of said base component
In a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a mezuza openable casing comprising of at least two parts, a base and a cover, wherein at least one of said components includes a receptacle which is open relative to the remaining component, the base component being provided with means for permanent attachment to a door post, said base component and said cover being interconnected by at least one catch element which serves to retain the two components together and yet allows easy opening of the cover.
Thus, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said cover component is connectable to said base component by interlocking arms and matching recesses for removal and replacement of said cover component without the need for tools.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, said cover component is connectable to said base component by interlocking friction fit means.
In a most preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided door post-attachable housing for a mezuza scroll further provided with means to deter unauthorized removal of said cover.
Yet further embodiments of the invention will be described hereinafter.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,900 Hasten describes and claims a mezuza having a base which is permanently mountable on a doorway fixture, and having a housing portion with a bore portion with a bore in one of its ends for receiving a scroll bearing biblical text therein, with the housing member being slidably engageable with the doorway mounted elongated base member. The lower, bore communicating end of the housing member abuts a sealing member of the base member upon engagement of the housing to the base member to effectively seal the bore in which the scroll is disposed to prevent the scroll from falling out and to shelter the scroll. The scroll may be periodically checked for integrity or replaced by sliding the housing member off of the base member to gain easy access to the bore, with the housing member then slideable back onto the base member to secure the scroll in the housing member. A latch may be provided to selectively prevent slideable disengagement of the housing member from the base member.
The parchment scroll is difficult to remove from the bore, tweezers being required for this purpose. Regarding opening of the housing, the long dovetail slide may not operate freely due to dirt, paint, or distortion of the wood due to humidity changes. If a latch is provided, and it is easily opened, a potential thief can also open the housing. If the latch is difficult to open, the householder will have a problem when trying to open the casing for inspection of its contents.
Alternatively, if said housing were to be modified so that the parchment scroll would be easily removable from the bore then the danger would exist that when the housing portion containing the scroll were removed from the base member then the scroll could fall therefrom thereby desecrating its holiness.
In contradistinction thereto, the present invention allows for much easier access for removal of the scroll from its casing. For indoor use, no latch need be provided. For outdoor use, the present invention provides at least three solutions: a double catch which the householder knows how to open but which is not easily opened otherwise; a miniature lock; and lastly one or two tamper resistant screws which can only be opened by use of a non-standard key which is supplied together with the mezuza housing.
Furthermore, since the base component of the housing of the present invention is provided with support means extending into said compartment to retain and support said mezuza scroll in rolled up configuration even after the removal of the cover component, the danger of the scroll failing on the floor when the housing is opened is eliminated.
It will thus be realized that the novel housing of the present invention allows permanent attachment of the base portion to the door frame, thus making possible the use of liquid adhesives as well as double-sided adhesive tape. Consequently the attachment holes in the base portion can be eliminated, and the danger of damaging the housing while driving nails or screws into the door frame is obviated.
The invention will now be described in connection with certain preferred embodiments with reference to the following illustrative figures so that it may be more fully understood.
With specific reference now to the figures in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the preferred embodiments of the present invention only and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the invention in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice.